The Reclamation of Aeon City: We Are The Runaways
by HillianLink
Summary: So, I would put the summary here, but it is much too long. If you actually want to read the summary, rather than jump straight into the story, it is in my profile. So, yeah, have fun. :)
1. Call to Arms (Act I)

**So, this is the AO3 exclusive story. Yeah, I decided to move it here, as well, for two reasons. One being that people wanted me to, and the other being that the rule of AO3 applied to this story. If it isn't porn, no one gives a fuck. Anyway, this story won't have too many modifications, essentially just being that any real animals mentioned, which there will be some, will be made in to Pokemon. If you don't like it, I apologize, but I prefer to have my stories be read by people. That, and you'll have to get over it. Trust me, I'm not breaking any rules. So, let's have some fun.**

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**So, this story is actually an Archive exclusive, at this time. Depending on how it does on this site, I may make some minor modifications and upload it to FFnet, but that all depends. Anyway, as you read, this is technically an Original Work, but it is based off of two albums by the band Crown the Empire, so I have added that fandom, as well. So, without too many more interruptions, let's begin.**

***Note: I do not own/ am not associated with Crown the Empire or any music made by them. All of those rights belong to Crown the Empire and their record label, Rise Records. So, enjoy the story and check out the band**.

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**Call To Arms (Act I)**

I could feel my young cheeks continue to dampen with my tears as I continued watching the masked and hooded figures abuse my parents, feeling helpless as I hid in my parent's bedroom, peering around the door. My ears were filled with my parent's cries of pain and the men's laughter, as my father fell from his knees to his stomach, where he joined my mother.

"Fucking pathetic." One of the men said. "I would have thought that supporters of that terrorist group would actually put up a fight, rather than just take the beating." He sent his foot flying into my father's stomach, eliciting a cough of blood from my fallen parent, as he continued, "But, I guess that most of their supporters are weak, anyway."

I heard groan coming from my father, a groan that sounded like it was attempting to become words.

"Sorry, what was that?" The other man mocked, leaning down to my father. "I didn't quite hear you?"

I heard a few more choking coughs from my father, followed by, "Fuck you."

The man stood back up and kicked my father in the face, snapping his head back, and causing multiple teeth to fly from his open mouth.

"Don't you dare fucking talk to me like that, you dirt!" The man yelled.

The other man rolled up his sleeve some, before looking at what appeared to be a watch on his wrist.

He grabbed his partners arm, saying, "Hey, let's hurry up and finish this. It's getting late."

He turned his beaked face to his partner, before agreeing, "Alright, fine." He reached into his pocket, saying, "I was getting bored with these two, anyway."

The man removed his hand from his pocket, revealing that he was gripping a switchblade. He flipped it open, the blade shining slightly in the light from the single bare bulb.

"Now then, let's teach you what happens to those who oppose the Scarecrow." He said, leaning down to my parents.

He lifted up my father's head, making him face him. My father took this chance to spit a mixture of blood and saliva at the beaked man.

As the man wiped the spit off with his sleeve, he laughed, saying, "Oh, you're going to pay for that."

He brought the blade of the knife up to my father's face, before plunging the blade into his eye, and twisting the blade. My father screamed in pain, and I had to fight the urge to throw up. The man ignored my father's screams, and pulled the knife from its fleshy sheath, before plunging it into his other eye, and repeating the process of twisting it. This time, though, he didn't stop until my father's screams ceased, and just lay there, his body now still. He dropped my father's head to the ground, before picking up my mother's. He appeared to examine her for a few moments, before dropping her head back down.

"Pretty sure that the bitch is already dead." He commented, rising and closing the knife, before pocketing it. "C'mon, let's go ahead and leave."

The other man nodded, and they started for the door, before one of the men stopped.

"Wait a minute." He said. "Didn't the neighbors say that these two have a little brat?"

The other man continued walking; only shrugging and saying, "I don't know. It doesn't matter, anyway. The kid will never last a week on the streets."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He agreed, before following his comrade out the door.

As the door slammed shut behind the duo, I couldn't stand to wait any longer. I fled the cover of the door and rushed to my fallen parents. I reached my father first, and sat down next to him, before lightly poking him.

"Daddy?" I said, my voice shaking terribly.

There was no response, other than the sounds of my own light whimpers.

"Daddy?" I repeated, poking him again, my voice becoming much more frantic.

I heard a raspy cough, followed by, "Matty?"

I looked up to see that my mother had her head leaned up, looking up at me.

"Mommy!" I said, joyfully.

I got up and ran to her, before sitting down next to her.

"Mommy!" I repeated, going to hug her.

She stopped me, saying, "Wait, son. Do not celebrate quite yet."

I moved back, saying, "Why?"

"Because, sweet child, I will not survive this." She replied. "But, that is why I must tell you what I must tell you. Are you listening?" I nodded, so she continued, "Son, go into our bedroom and open our closet. In there you will find a small box in the floor. Pick it up and bring it to me."

I complied, not bothering to question my mother's intentions. I rose and dashed into my parent's room and over to the closet. I flung the door open and quickly found the box. I retrieved it, before returning to my mother's side.

"Thank you, my son." She praised. "Always so loyal and helpful, even now, as I lay before you, my death imminent." Coughing suddenly racked her body, blood flying from her mouth and splattering on the floor, before calming down and saying, "Now, listen to me. I need you to open the box and take what is inside of it."

I complied and lifted the lid. Inside was nothing more than a necklace with a pendant on it. I examined the pendant and saw that it appeared to be a silver crown, with a silver cog surrounding it.

"Now, I want you to take that pendant and keep it on you always." My mother said. "Can you do that for me?" I nodded, and she said, "Good. Thank you for that. Now, hurry and leave this place. Get out of the house and survive. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded, and she nodded back, before her head dropped the floor roughly.

"Mommy?" I said, shaking her lightly. "Mommy?" I repeated, continuing to shake her, but to no avail.

I slowly got up, cradling the pendant in my hands. I took one last look at my lifeless parents, before dashing out of the house and into a nearby ally. I stared down at the pendant, the cog and crown. I sat down on a flattened cardboard box, before slipping the chain around my neck. I gazed down at the pendant one more time before slipping it under my shirt. I then curled up, my black ears drooping over my face, and just laid there, crying, until I fell asleep.


	2. The Morning Pledge

**So, we have returned with the next chapter of Matty's life. Anyone else hyped? I am. Now then, let's proceed.**

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**The Morning Pledge**

I opened my eyes to see the same black, smoggy sky that I had woken up to for the past twelve years. Ever since my parents were killed, that was one of the only things that actually seemed to stay constant. Well, that, and the fact that I still absolutely despise the Raven and his Scarecrows, but that is not only beside the point, but also extremely obvious. I sat up, causing some of my black hair two fall over my left eye, into its natural position. I stood up and dusted off my hoodie and jeans, before looking around in the alley that I had fallen asleep in, to see that it was empty._What a pity. I was really hoping to be able to have an educational and interesting conversation with that hooker that was here last night. Honestly, though, I wouldn't be surprised if she had already been nabbed by the Scarecrows. _I shuddered at the thought of what they would do to her. _If so, poor girl. No one deserves to be violated like that._

I shrugged, before speaking to myself, "Meh, nothing that can be done if she has been caught. As cruel as it may sound, she knew what she was getting into when she decided to sell her body." I thought for a second, before saying, "Why am I talking to myself?" I shrugged, answering myself, "I don't know. I guess that being alone for this long has made me crazy, or something." I sighed, and said, "Yeah, let's stop this now."

I went to the end of the alley and stuck my head out, observing the street. I saw that it was fairly packed, which was nothing new. _Alright, now to see if I can swipe some food off of someone. _While I could normally find a few people out there that I could steal some food from, I actually saw damn near no one with food; a majority of the people were merely moving from place to place, no doubt going to work, where they would slave away, under constant supervision, only to come home with three dollars a day, if they were lucky. I did spot some food, but I physically felt my stomach drop as I noticed whose it was. There was a small wheelbarrow being pushed that was full of loaves of bread. Not the shitty, moldy bread that is sold to the citizens of Aeon, but perfect, golden brown bread. I was practically drooling at the sight, but, there was still the issue of who was pushing the wheelbarrow. Scarecrows. The Scarecrows weren't actually pushing it, obviously, as the only work they ever actually did involved violence, but they had a child no older than fifteen pushing it, with an armed Scarecrow on each side of him. I looked at the guns and saw that they appeared to be their standard weapons, fully automatic assault rifles. _Fuck. I could attempt it, but there is a large chance that I'll fail. _I stood there, contemplating my next move, until I finally decided. I flipped my hood up, hoping that it, along with the rest of my black clothing, would help hide my identity. _Well, here goes nothing. _I took a deep breath, before charging out into the street. By now the group had passed my alley, not noticing me, so I came at them from the back. I rushed up to them, going for the Scarecrows first. I hit each of them in the side of the neck at the same time, causing them to crumple to the ground, stunned, if not unconscious. I then pushed the shocked kid out of the way, before snatching a loaf of bread from the wheelbarrow and stuffing it into my hoodie pocket. By now, everyone on the street had stopped, and had begun watching me. I dashed towards another alley, only to have my path cut off by a group of three armed Scarecrows stepping out in front of me.

They all raised their weapons and aimed at me, as one said, "Drop the bread, or die."

I quickly looked around, trying to find an escape. I almost immediately found on, and I took it. Before the Scarecrows could react, I dashed towards a window to my left, and dove into it, somehow managing to just brush off all of the glass, and took off running through the factory. I passed bewildered workers, before leaping over a conveyor belt, which was littered with parts of the very same weapons that I suddenly heard being fired at me. I quickly glanced back to see that the Scarecrows had followed me into the building, and were sending a volley of rounds at me. I saw that they hit a few workers, but I kept running. I saw some stairs and took them up, leading me into a small room filled with boxes. I saw another window at the other end of the room, and dashed for it. I leapt through it, only noticing that there was nothing to grab too late. I fell to the ground, but managed to land on my feet, sending a jarring feeling shooting up through my bones. I took off down the alley that I was now in, before rounding a corner and seeing a chain fence. I quickly climbed it, landing on the other side, and took off running again. I ran for a few more minutes, before finally deciding that I had lost them. I took the loaf of bread from my pocket, a smile on my face at my victory. I brought it to my mouth, about to take a bite of it, until I heard a clanging sound near me. My eyes shot to where the sound came from, ready to run if needed, but all I saw was a pair of small children, a boy and a girl, digging through a trashcan, presumably to find food. I sighed, looking down at my bread longingly, my mind already made up. I slowly started towards the children, my existence not yet known.

"Hey, kids." I said.

They both shot up to look at me, before starting to run away.

"Hey, calm down." I said. "I'm not going to tell anyone about you guys."

This seemed to calm them down, as they allowed me to get closer to them. I could see that their eyes were locked onto the bread in my hands, a small amount of drool actually coming from the boy.

"You guys hungry?" I asked them.

I was met with a nod.

I chuckled slightly, before saying, "Here, catch."

With that, I tossed the bread to the pair. The boy caught it, and they both stared down at it as if it was made of solid gold. I chuckled lightly again, before quickly leaving the alley. As I entered the streets, I flipped my hood off of my head. I heard a loud beeping, signaling that it was time for the morning announcements. My eyes averted to one of the giant screens on the tallest building in the city. The Crow's Nest, as it was called by the citizens of Aeon. It's the Raven's personal building, with a large balcony near the top, with the screen I was currently looking at residing under it. The balcony was used by the Raven to observe the city, and, at the edge, stood a tall flagpole, with a Scarecrow mask printed onto it. The screens all switched on, showing the Raven, absurd glasses and all.

"Greeting, loyal citizens of Aeon City." He began. "It is now time for your daily pledge of allegiance."

All around me, people's hands went to their hearts, as they prepared to say the city's pledge, and I, not wanting to invoke the wrath of the Scarecrows, followed suit.

The screen of the Raven was replaced by a loop of the current flag of Aeon waving lightly in a breeze, as the streets filled with the monotonous voices of the people around me starting the pledge.

"We are the products of the New Fallout."  
"We are loyal to the Raven, as he has been kind enough to cure us of the disease known as freedom."  
"We have been stripped of our identity and all that we hold dear;"  
"as it is our individuality that ultimately led to our destruction."  
"We show undying loyalty to our one and only savior, the Raven."  
"Should we disobey his will, we shall be punished, our lives taken from us and our children left to rot."  
"We thank the Raven for all that he has done for us, and he shall remain our leader for eternity."  
"Thank you, leader, and may we serve you as best as possible."

As the pledge finished, I dropped my hand to my side, having to resist the urge to be sick after saying that. After a few seconds, the loop of the flag was replaced by the live feed of the Raven, once again.

"Now then," he began, "as always, obey our city's rules and do as the Scarecrows' command and there will be no issues. Now, onto the other order of business." At that, his face was replaced by that of a man with brown hair, the bottom half of his face hidden by a skull bandana, with the Raven's voice continuing, "The reward for any information involving this man, known as Bones, or his group of terrorists, the Runaways, has been raised from one loaf of bread to two loaves." With that, the Ravens face returned, for him to say, "That is all of our announcements. Citizens, as you were."

As the screens went blank, people began moving around on the streets again. I just sighed and began walking, my stomach growling quietly._Fuck, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in, like, two or three days. _I let out a sigh as I turned down another ally, hoping that I could find some food in a trashcan or something. I had only been searching for a few seconds, before I felt an arm wrap around my neck. I started struggling, just for me to be stopped by the arm putting pressure on my neck, causing me to fall into a black unconsciousness.

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**Suddenly, cliffhanger. I know, it's a sin in the world of Fanfiction, but I did it anyway. Anyway, I hope that you guys like this chapter (the few of you that there are. *Sigh* I hate that people on this site only care about porn.). Anyway, until next time, I'm Link.**


	3. Initiation

**So, yeah, I guess that this is the next chapter. Y'know, where we get to see what happened after the cliffhanger ending of last chapter, and where our protagonist Matty has landed himself today. So, fuck it, let's go.**

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**Initiation**

I opened my eyes to see a slightly blinding light bearing down on me. I groaned, shutting my eyes. I rolled over onto my stomach, before getting up on my hands and knees. I opened my eyes, staring at the concrete floor below me. I stood up and looked around. I appeared to be standing in a rather small room, the walls a gray concrete. The room itself had three large fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, explaining what had blinded me. I noticed a door in one of the walls, and I went over to it. Upon further inspection, I confirmed that the door, in fact, had no handle or knob, and that it was made out of some patchwork metal. I banged on the door, trying to get someone's attention.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Anyone out there? I'm kind of trapped in here!"

No response.

I resumed banging on the door, and yelled, "Hey, I could use some help! I don't know how I got here, but I would enjoy leaving!"

Suddenly, a grim thought occurred to me. _What if I've been captured by the Scarecrows? I mean, the last thing that I remember is being struck on the head, and then I fell into unconsciousness. _No sooner had the thought passed through my head, then I heard a buzzing screeching sounds, similar to that of an old speaker.

I heard a voice begin speaking, sounding like a robotic female, seeming to come from the walls themselves, "Welcome, new recruits, to your evaluation and initiation course." Confused, I began looking around for some sort of speaker, as the voice continued, "This system is designed to test your survival and critical thinking skills in Aeon City. Please adjust the volume, and prepare to move."

_Volume? Where am I moving to?_

"Welcome to the Resistance." The voice finished.

As soon as the words sounded, the patchwork metal door dropped with a screech, revealing a hallway, ending in a right turn. Deciding to play along, I took off running down the hall, taking the turn. As I went down the next hall, I saw a rather large crate in the way. I swiftly and easily leapt onto it, before leaping off of the other side. _What was that that the voice said about the Resistance? And where the hell am I? _I turned another corner to see that there was a wall a few feet taller than me up ahead. Panicked, my eyes scanned the scene, before focusing on a gap at the top of the wall, just large enough for me to get through. I sped up my sprint, hitting the wall running. I planted my foot firmly on the wall, before leaping up to grab the top of the wall. I pulled myself up, before swinging over and falling to the floor, landing on my feet. I continued down the hall, before turning once again. I saw a table up ahead, with an open air vent above it. I sprinted down the hall, leaping onto the table, before pulling myself into the vent. I began crawling through the tight space, ignoring the multiple mice that I had to knock away from me. After a fair distance, I heard a slight creaking, before the vent gave way below me with a resounding crash, as well as a loud burst of breaking metal. I landed, coughing, on my back, my air violently knocked from my lungs. I slowly picked myself up, knocking the dust off of my clothing. I found myself in a large open room. _I have a feeling that I'm not meant to be here. _At my thoughts, I heard what sounded like helicopter blades, followed by an alarm beginning to blare.

"All new recruits, we have been surrounded by Scarecrows." The voice from earlier rang out. As the aforementioned masked mercenaries came roping through the broken windows of the warehouse, the voice continued, "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

As the Scarecrows began surrounding me, assault rifles in hand, I began looking around for an escape. When I was almost completely surrounded by the masked men, I saw my escape.

As I took off running, the voice said, "Runaway status is active to all new recruits starting immediately. System failure."

As I dashed across the floor, gunshots began ringing out in the room, bullets flying just behind me. I reached my target, a stack of crates, and immediately began climbing them. Reaching the top, I leapt through a broken window, hoping that I would land on something soft. I ended up only falling a short distance, landing in a roll on a nearby rooftop. I went to the edge of the building and looked down, to see that I appeared to be at least twenty stories up. At that moment, the sound of helicopter blades got much louder, and I spun around to see that one of helicopters was coming around the building to face me. It turned sideways, allowing me to see, a knot of fear in my stomach, a Scarecrow sitting in the back next to a mounted mini-gun, his legs hanging off of the side. As I stood there, he brought up a scoped rifle and aimed it at me, made obvious by the large red dot on my chest. Within seconds, I was running again, leaping from roof top to roof top, fleeing the sniper shots that were hitting behind me, each chunk of roofing that flew up from the large rounds impact striking more fear into my heart. After multiple minutes of fleeing, the rounds stopped, as did I. I looked back at the helicopter, to see that the Scarecrow was now standing behind the mounted gun, his hand on the buttons. As the large weapon began spinning up, I quickly resumed running. As the rounds started flying, getting closer by the second, I saw my escape. At the next jump, rather than jumping to the next roof, I leapt at the window a few feet below my current position. I crashed through it, landing on a floor that was just below it, thankfully. As the machine gun continued pounding the building, I took off down the hall. I leapt out of the other window, reaching for a ledge just above me on the next building. My heart sank as my fingers just missed it, clutching at the flat wall of the building. I plummeted to the ground, before landing on something hard and metal, leaving a dent in it. I rolled off of the thing, my lungs void of air and my back in immense pain, hitting the ground hard. I tried to get up, but I immediately collapsed, before coughing up blood. As I grew nearer to unconsciousness, I saw feet rush towards me. I tried to move away, but couldn't, due to my injuries.

"Hurry, get him." I heard a smooth male's voice say.

I was quickly lifted up, groaning at the sudden change in position.

"Damn it, Kale." A female voice reprimanded. "Have you never taken care of an injured person before? Slowly, not at a fucking breakneck speed." I felt a hand gently brush through my hair, followed by the woman saying, "Shh, calm down. We're here to help you, Matty."

With that, I fell into unconsciousness for the second time that day.

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**Yep, another cliffhanger. Get over it, I did it because I did it. Granted, it's also a pretty short chapter, so that happened, as well. Yeah, anyway, see you guys next time, whenever that is.**

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**So, this is the last chapter that I currently have up. Therefore, the next chapter will be up either sometime this week, or it will be the chapter for the BYOPH update marathon. So, I'll see you guys, as well as reply to any reviews that you guys have left that need a reply, in the next one.**


	4. The Fallen

**Okay, so, this appears to be the next chapter, where we get to find out what the hell actually happened to Matty. So, yeah, we'll do that after I check the reviews.**

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**Feral: Okay, so this will be in order of reviews, as well. So, here we go.**

**Dude, if you think that that was a bad outro, then you obviously haven't read _The New Champion. _I used "I'm Link, and I approve this message" at least two fucking times in there so far. I'm just horrid with those things, and I have no idea why.**

**Honestly, the whole "if it's not porn, no one cares" thing really only applies to AO3. I mean, you can see a shitty PWP story be put up on the same day as a legitimate story, one with a real plot and story line, and the PWP will have more views in an hour than the other story will have in a week. It's fucking horrid.**

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**So, now we may begin.**

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**The Fallen**

I opened my eyes, blinking slowly. As my pupils were assaulted by light, I fought to look around with snapping my eyes shut. After a few seconds, I became accustomed to the light, and I could see clearly. I noticed that I was in a fairly small room, the floor the gray stone of a factory, as well as most of the buildings in Aeon, and the walls obviously the same material, only that they appeared to be painted a midnight blue color. I felt that I was lying on a bed, and I tried to sit up, only to feel a pain in my torso, causing me to drop back down. I threw the blanket off of my body, revealing that I was clad only in my jeans, with a large amount of bandages wrapped around my entire torso. I put a minor amount of pressure on my injuries, causing me to hiss in pain. I dropped my head down, feeling a slightly cold pressure on my neck. I sat back up, to see that my necklace was still on, as well. I grabbed the pendant and let it drop down my chest. I sighed, before swinging my legs off of the bed. _Where the hell am I? And how did I even get here? The last thing I remember is falling off of a fucking building! _My feet hit the floor, and I attempted to stand. After a few tries and a fair amount of hissing, I eventually got up. I looked around, seeing that the room was pretty bare. I noticed only one other item in the room: a flag. Hanging just above the bed was a black flag, with a specific white symbol on it. I gripped my pendant, holding it up at eye level. _What? Why is this pendant on a flag? What the hell was my father a part of? No matter. I need to get out, find out what the hell is happening. _I went to the gray door that I had noticed earlier, gripping the knob. I twisted it, swinging the door open quietly, and left the room. I instinctively began moving silently down the hall that I was let out into. I saw that the door that I had left was just across from another, with another door on each side of the hall further down. I continued creeping down the hall, beginning to hear some voices. I reached the end, turning to see that it opened out into another room. I entered, to find that I was on a slightly elevated portion of the floor, a metal railing to my left, ending at a small set of stairs. I looked to my left, to find that the room resembled a small kitchen, with three people sitting at a small dining table, deep in conversation. I stood there for a minute or so, before the one whose face I could see, a beautiful blonde haired girl, noticed me. She froze, looking over the shoulder of the man in front of her. All faces turned to me, and I froze, eyes wide.

"So, you are awake." The closest person, a large dark skinned man said, rising. He beckoned for me to go to him, saying, "Come on, we don't bite."

For reasons unknown to me, I complied, heading for the stairs. As I moved, I examined the three people in front of me. I began with the girl, as I had noticed her first. She had long flowing blonde hair, reaching down past her shoulders. Her face was slightly thin, but not to the point to where it was unattractive. Her eyes were trained onto me, the irises of which were a beautiful pure blue, as if I were looking at a clear ocean, rather than a girl. Her body was no less than breath taking. She had perfect hourglass figure, curves in all the right places, and an obvious amount of lean muscle in others. My eyes flicked over to the man to her left. He's lanky as fuck, that's for sure. Ice white hair going down to end on his shoulders, draping them in a sheet. His face and eyes greatly resembled the girls, causing me to assume some form of relation. His eyes, while similar, where a more icy opaque color, and their gaze was currently piercing me, telling me that he saw my eyes examining the girl. _His daughter, perhaps? He's rather protective already. _I finally looked at the man whom called me, the one that appears to be the leader, judging by his way of taking charge and his authoritative demeanor. He was fairly large, not tall, nor fat, just rather large and built. His muscle definition was obvious, even without actuallu being able to see them. Due to his dark sunglasses, I couldn't see his eyes, but I could feel them burning into my flesh, causing me to have to fight the urge to freeze in fright. The entire group appeared to be clad in all black, similar to my normal outfit, with the only difference being the leader's long, thick trench coat. I arrived in front of the group, standing still and straight.

"G'morning, Sunshine." The lanky man greeted me, surprising me.

"Um, hello." I returned, waving lightly.

He laughed, before saying, "Calm down, kid. Just because you were checking out my daughter, that doesn't mean that I'll kill you… yet."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "I wasn't-."

"Would you stop messing with him, Kale?" The girl told her father, cutting me off. "Besides, I'm sixteen, I can handle myself."

The leader rolled his eyes, and said, "Would you two stop bickering? I swear, you act more like siblings than a father and a daughter." They both stopped, and he addressed me, "So, you are finally back in the land of the living, Matty."

"How do you know my name?" I asked, confused.

Instead of answering, he merely said, "Oh, I know more than just your name. I know that your favorite color is black. I know that your food of choice, despite you rarely getting it, is any form of salted potatoes, yet the rarity of salt consistently holds you back." His voice took on a much more serious tone, as he added, "I also know that you've been homeless for twelve years, ever since two Scarecrows raided your home, killing your parents."

I froze, and asked, "How did you-?"

"How I know does not matter." He said, cutting me off with a wave of his hand. "All that matters is that I can help you."

"Help me?" I inquired. "Help me what?"

"Help you get the revenge that we both know that you desire." He answered. "All it will take is something in return."

"What?" I asked. "I still don't even know who the hell you people are."

"Yes, Lucifer, you really should have told him that first." Kale pointed out.

Lucifer glared at Kale, before saying, "Very well. I suppose that that would be nice." He cleared his throat, before beginning, "We are known as The Fallen, a sub group of The Runaways."

"The Runaways?" I asked, surprised. "Like the group that that Bones guy leads?"

Lucifer nodded, before continuing, "Yes. That would be the one. We are a group of them, meaning that we answer to Bones. Multiple years ago, Bones contacted us, knowing that we are all supporters of his attempts to reclaim and liberate Aeon, and recruited us to help. Our job is to do whatever we can to help weaken the Raven's grip on the city, hoping to make the reclamation of the city easier. We raid supply lines that enter the city; we free captured Runaways; we do whatever we can to assist the cause."

"Okay." I slowly said. "So, how do I play into all of this?"

"We need more recruits, more able body fighters, especially since I can no longer do our normal work, seeing as I took a bullet in my kneecap last month." Lucifer answered. "And your skills are formidable, and your desires both beneficial and perfect for a Fallen. So, this brings the question. Would you want to join us? We can help your parent's deaths, and all we ask in return is your assistance in reclaiming the city."

I just stood there, shocked. _Me? I've never even fought someone before, let alone kill them! _I stood there, thinking, as the others watched me intently. After a few seconds, I had made my decision.

I slowly nodded, replying, "Yes, I'll do it. I'll join."

Lucifer clapped his hands together loudly, saying, "Wonderful. Now, how about we all start off with introducing ourselves. I am Lucifer, the leader of our group."

"Hey, I'm Kale." Kale spoke up. "I'm commonly the cook here, as the others can't cook worth shit. I'm also the guy that will castrate and gut you if you lay a hand on my daughter. So, y'know, keep that in mind."

I nodded nervously, as the girl rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, dad." She reprimanded. She smiled at me, before introducing herself, "Hey, I'm Allyxs. But, most people just call me Lexy. I'm the girl who'll kick her father's ass for being over-protective."

"R-Right." I replied, nodding.

"So, Matty, if you are going to be a part of the Runaways, then you need to have the proper gear." Lucifer said. "So, if you will follow me, we can get you ready."

I nodded, and he started up the stairs, with me following him. He led me back to the room that I had awoken in.

"So, this will be your room while you are here." He stated, upon opening the door. "Your gear is under the bed."

I went over to the bed and bent down. I reached under the piece of furniture, feeling wood. I gripped it and pulled it out, revealing a wooden chest, latched shut. I opened it, revealing clothes and shoes similar to my previous clothing. I took them out and put them on, before glancing back into the chest. I noticed one other thing, which I took out to examine. It was a black bandana with a white jaw on it, similar to the one that Bones was wearing.

"What's with this?" I asked.

"It is one of the two symbols of The Runaways." Lucifer explained. "We use it to identify each other, as well as keep our identity hidden."

"Why would you need to do that?" I inquired.

"Because it's easier to do reconnaissance when every gun in the city isn't pointed at you." He replied, smiling lightly.

"I can see that." I said, nodding. "So, what's the other symbol of The Runaways?"

"You should know." He told me, motioning towards me. "You've been wearing it for twelve years now."

Knowing what he meant, I asked, "The pendant? What does this symbol have to do with them?"

"We don't know, honestly." He replied. "It's just what was chosen."

I just shrugged, and said, "I guess that I don't have any issue with that."

At that point, I heard Kale yell out, "Yo, dinner!"

"C'mon." Lucifer said. "You must be hungry."

I nodded, and we left my room, heading back to the main room. As we were walking, I tied the bandana around my neck, letting it fall onto my shirt. When we arrived, I felt my jaw drop at the sight of the table. It was full of food, most of which I had never even come near in the past twelve years. There was cooked Farfetch'd, what appeared to be fair sized pieces of fish, presumably Magikarp, and I knew that my eyes were wide upon seeing the best thing that I had laid eyes on in years. _Fucking potatoes! _Lucifer seemed to notice my reaction, as I heard him chuckle.

"Impressed?" He asked me. I just nodded, and he said, "Well, just remember that this was all donated to us by the kind Scarecrows that run the Raven's supply line. They were just nice enough to be knocked out easily so we could rob them."

"So you take his food and supplies for yourselves?" I asked.

"Not all of it." He answered. "Really, it's a minute amount. We distribute almost all of the medicine and food to families in the city. He just has this much stuff coming in each month."

"Damn."I commented, both impressed and mildly infuriated.

"Hey!" Kale reprimanded me, as he came out of a doorway near the table. "No cussing at the dinner table. It's bad manners."

Lucifer just rolled his eyes, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Anyway," Kale said, "Matty, could you go and get Lexy? She's normally working on something that keeps her from hearing me."

"Um, sure." I replied, nodding. "Which door?"

"The one across from yours." Lucifer replied.

I nodded, and went down the hall. I came to the aforementioned door and knocked on it. There was no answer, so I pressed my ear to it, to hear the sound of metal against metal. Knowing that I would get no response, I just opened the door. Inside, I saw that Allyxs's room was similar to mine, the only exception being the desk that she was currently working at. I went up behind her and tapped her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly, dropping the hammer from her hand. She spun around, seeing that it was me.

"Oh, hey Matty." She greeted me. "What's up?"

"Um, dinner's ready." I answered. "I was sent to get you."

"Oh." She replied. "Thanks."

"So, what exactly are you doing in here?" I asked.

"Working on something." She replied. "Wanna see what it is?"

"Um, sure, I guess." I answered, shrugging.

She took what she was hitting off of her desk, holding it out to me. I accepted it, and began examining it. It was a three bladed weapon, resembling a boomerang. The blades all appeared to be from a metal fan of some sort, with one of them being covered in the center by a taped cloth.

"What is this?" I asked.

"I call it the Cyclone Blade." She replied. "It's something that I've been working on for a while, trying to find the proper way to make it. The last one was only a two blade, and that one failed horridly."

"What does it do?" I said, spinning it in my hand slowly.

"How about we go up to the roof and see?" She offered. I looked at her, reluctant, and she reassured, "C'mon, we'll be fine. It's not like we'll be up there for very long, anyway."

Finally, I caved, saying, "Sure, I guess."

She leapt up from her chair and went to the door. She opened it, entering the hall, and I followed her. She went to the right, rather than the left, which lead to a single door at the end of the hall. She opened it, revealing a staircase. We ascended the stairs to another door. Once we were through that, I was overcome by the breathtaking sight. We were on top of one of the tallest buildings in Aeon, and I could see the entire city from the position. Hell, I could even see over the walls, allowing me to see the surrounding farmland and forests that so few were even able to glimpse, let alone visit.

"Wow." I commented.

"Yep." Allyxs agreed. "I've been here for years, and the view never gets old. But, c'mon, let's test the weapon."

We went over to near the edge of the building, before stopping.

"Alright, what do I do?" I asked.

"It's simple." She answered. "You just throw the Cyclone Blade like you would a plate. Don't put too much force through your arm, from the test I've done I can tell you that it is all in the wrist."

"Haven't all of your tests failed, though?" I asked.

"Oh, shut up and just throw the damn thing." She retorted.

I nodded, before gripping the handle tightly. I curled my arm, before launching it forward, sending the blade flying out smoothly. We watched with bated breath as the weapon flew out multiple feet, before circling back towards us. I instinctively reached out, catching the handle of it with ease. As I retracted my arm, Allyxs hopped into the air, smiling.

"Yes!" She cheered. "It works, it finally works." I offered the Cyclone Blade to her, but she shook her head, saying, "No, you keep it. You're a fucking natural. I can easily make more, so this could easily be our most effective weapon."

I was about to reply, when I heard Kale yell for us again.

"We should probably go and eat." I pointed out.

"Right." Allyxs replied, nodding.

As we started back to the door, I tucked the Cyclone Blade into the back of my jeans, careful not to stab myself. _Well, today's been productive._

* * *

**So, how was it? Still pretty short, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter, I promise. Honestly, the main reason for the length is also the main reason that I will be postponing the second half of my Update Marathon to Tuesday, which is tomorrow. That reason being that my wrists hurt now. Seriously, having to legitimately write at school all week, and then coming home and writing as many words as I have already (being more 7k, ANs not included) can be slightly taxing. I don't know, maybe I'm just bitching, but, in my defense, my wrists are getting really sore. So, yeah. I may put up the chapter for _The Half-blood Pokemorph _tonight, should I actually grow a pair and deal with it, but I'm not sure. But, the rest of the chapters will be out by Wednesday, mark my words. Anyway, yeah, have a nice night, everyone. Or, it's night for me. Y'know, with it being 8:20 and shit.**


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